More rehearsing. More dancing.

  Similar:A picture of puffy white clouds floating in a blue skyAestheticsOn Death and iPods: A RequiemI never owned a classic iPod, though I d…CultureFull Bloom opens tonight.PersonalEvita in Zelionople CultureOn set. #indiefilm #historicaldrama #creativity #enjoylifePersonalJust in case you can’t find the tweet that Trump, who got trolled for making a rookie erro…This is how…

Trying out a new lens to capture creepy-toy-come-to-life choreography.

Similar:Journalists should not amplify the ableist biases of untrained sourcesBeing a cop, lawyer, patriot, protestor,…CultureYouth Can Check Out Briefcases, Neckties via NYPL Grow Up Work AccessoriesThe New York Public Library has a progra…BusinessStarting my “Writing about Literature” class by having students react to a John Donne sonn…PersonalMeet octobot, a soft-bodied robot that looks like the…

Updated a “Gender Neutral Language” handout

MTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Actress” awards in favor of “Best Actor,” which suggests the gender-specific term “actress” is less popular among MTV’s target audience. I added that detail, fixed some broken links, and updated the graphic. See Writing Tips: Gender Neutral Language. Similar:Chipping away at Pygmalion and GalateaPygmalion is a legendary sculptor (whose…ArtGrading the…

Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Similar:Conundrum (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 14) You Get Amnesia! And YOU Get Amne…Rewatching ST:TNG The Enterprise-D cr…CultureName-calling and ad hominem attacks don't provide anyone with reasons to change their mind…AcademiaLen Deighton’s Bomber, the first book ever written on a word processor.The talented and insightful scholar Matt…BooksThe CRAFT of News Writing (Clear, Relevant, Accurate, Fair,…

The Language of Gender Violence

Oppressors deny their own agency and dehumanize their victims by using the passive voice. I want my students to recognize this deliberate strategy, and to look for hidden actors and dehumanized recpients of injustice. (I try to teach about active and passive verbs in a more lighthearted way, but I only bothered to photograph and…

Harvard revokes admission of several students for posting “offensive” memes

The First Amendment of the constitution protects the incoming students’ right to say whatever they like, even if Harvard doesn’t like it. And, as a private institution that is not regulated by the First Amendment, Harvard has the right to kick out incoming students unwise enough to exercise their rights in this manner. (The government…

Shakespeare’s Genius Is Nonsense

Just as comedians generally don’t laugh at their own jokes, Shakespeare doesn’t call too much attention to his own linguistic cleverness, which is one reason his work rewards close scrutiny. It’s not that he was being deliberately obscure or flowery — though some of his obsequious characters definitely exhibit such speech patterns. One line of…

I had a singular time voicing Sherlock Holmes in The Mystery of Dr. Watson (WAOB Audio Theatre)

Similar:In Changing News Landscape, Even Television is VulnerableThe transformation of the nation’s news …CultureEnjoyed watching "Queen of Katwe" (Ugandan girl chess prodigy movie)I enjoyed watching this chess-themed com…CultureChatGPT Can't Kill Anything Worth PreservingMany are wailing that this technology sp…AcademiaClose reading is hard to do in a state of normalized outrage.So this “Muslim ban” thing… is…

My theory: Trump was composing therapeutic poetry, and got stuck on the last line.

  Similar:Winners Chosen in Annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene ContestMichael Henninger took this wonderful ph…BooksOh the Overthinks You Can Overthink: Horton the Elephant, the Wickersham Brothers, and Mas…Yesterday, I performed in a school matin…AcademiaSnape and Ginny at the Hogwarts Club event.PersonalMy outward-bound editor's graduation cap.PersonalMy 14yo Helps Teach a Vacation Bible School Class In character…

I should be writing my “Fake News” paper for this weekend’s “Computers and Writing.” Instead….

Could the absurd examples of bizarre public discourse please stop happening so I can investifart some of them? Similar:Study confirms that ending your texts with a period is terrible.Language evolves, so oldsters like me sh…Cyberculturedungeon.jpg (JPEG Image, 2535×1616 pixels)Great Zork map.AestheticsGrumpy Gamer – Happy Birthday Monkey IslandI guess Monkey Island turns 25 this mont…CybercultureRemember That…

Liberals and conservatives dislike reading opposing views

Most research subjects, when offered the chance to win $10 and read essays that opposed their views, or $7 and read essays that confirmed their views, chose comfort over the higher potential prize. Liberals and conservatives reacted basically the same–with liberals slightly less willing to read conservative views. (I changed the click-baity headline, which sensationalized the issue…

Trump and JFK: Masters of New Media

I didn’t use Newsweek’s clickbaity headline: “Trump and JFK Are More Alike Than We Like To Think.” They are different in many ways, but JFK was remembered for mastering the new medium of television (people who listened to the Nixon/Kennedy debates on radio were more likely to believe Nixon won, but those who watched the…

Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way

The girl was singing lyrics she learned from a friend. They were so bad I had to Google them. But the animation and tune were better than I expected. Wocka-chicka makes everything better, including this cheesy-but-catchy orc song from the 1980s animated Return of the King. Saving this for the next time I need motivation. Similar:I…